The transition for new head teachers (school principals) can be a difficult and unpredictable one. This article outlines a case of a deputy (assistant principal) in the United Kingdom as he takes up his first headship. We describe some of the challenges involved and prompt readers to consider strategies that could be used and support that may be…

Noting the need for richer theories of identity and identity formation in education, the author describes aspects of D. P. McAdams' psychosocial constructivist framework enriched by select concepts drawn from Life Course research for conceptualizing and analyzing identity development within audit-driven societies and educational systems. Drawing…

This article develops a novel conceptual framework for examining the (re)formulation of habits in education spaces. It is based on the premise that education spaces are key sites for channelling and intervening in children's habits, to various ends. The article focuses on the ways educators at alternative education spaces in the United Kingdom…

School leaders in highly disadvantaged urban communities across the globe walk a tightrope, caught between the needs of communities and the requirements of national policies. This article aims to enrich our understanding of the potential of school-community relationships. It examines the policy discourse on urban schools and the practice of…

The history of leadership in educational settings that has a principal focus on student learning is one dominated by Western cultures, particularly those in the USA; also, it has developed two near-identical models of leadership commonly known as "instructional" or "learning-centred". This paper explores the relevance of these…

Adult education will have an important role to play in addressing the challenges facing the world in the wake of the Copenhagen climate change talks. What can providers do to make a difference--and what is already being done? In this article, the authors give their perspectives.

The "TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics" summarizes fourth and eighth grade student achievement in each of the 63 countries and 14 benchmarking entities which participated in TIMSS 2011. The report includes trends in mathematics achievement over time for participants in the previous TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007…

In recent years the UK secondary educational landscape has witnessed significant change, with the introduction of an ever-extending spectrum of competing government initiatives and policies. This has resulted in the steady erosion of the traditionally recognized role of headteacher. This paper presents the results of a practitioner-based study…

How leaders learn to become leaders has been an area of much research. When asked what were the key experiences in learning leadership, leaders often speak of the importance of "on-the-job" experiences, yet these experiences are rarely fully detailed in the research literature. The importance of "apprenticeships" and being…

This paper reflects on the role of mobile learning in teachers' professional learning. It argues that effective professional learning requires reflection and collaboration and that mobile learning is ideally suited to allow reflection-in-action and to capture the spontaneity of learning moments. The paper also argues for the value of…

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the introduction of school-based management (SBM) has affected schools' culture of consumption and the inequalities between schools with different socio-economic backgrounds. An analysis of financial reports from 31 SBM schools over four years reveals that schools have increased rather…

The paper approaches the issue of school choice in an indirect manner by investigating the effectiveness of public, private government-dependent and private independent schools in 19 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries selected from the PISA 2000 survey for this purpose. In a multilevel approach we estimate these…

Nurture groups are school-based interventions that offer specialist support for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Initially developed as an early years intervention in the 1970s, nurture groups dwindled in the 1980s but have enjoyed something of a renaissance over the last 15 years. There are now more…

Regarding daily work activities and relationships involved in running schools, occupational culture of (British) principalship has changed fundamentally. Using 20 headteachers' accounts of their career histories in 1990 interviews and 1992 questionnaires, this paper illustrates the changes experienced, including increased workload and focus on…

This British case study shows that assistant headteachers must work in greater partnership with their headteachers. Assuming responsibility and authority for specific tasks enhances deputy heads' contribution to the school's learning environment. Research indicates that assuming leadership responsibility is more effectively done with support from…